May 28, 2004

Bonjour, from a very tired PC desk at home. The gang arrived home at 6.15am today, having had a long and weary trip home. After beautiful sunsets, sunrises and a fantastic nine days, the Champagne's in the fridge and the teachers are about to join the rest of the crew in taking a day of well-deserved rest. Mr Burns, Ms. Bovill, Ms. Craigie, Mr Brown and Mr McIntosh would like to thank all the pupils on the trip for making us very proud during our time in France. You are a credit to your school and town. If you are a pupil you can make your comments on the trip in this part of the blog. Parents, friends and family messages should be added to yesterday's entry.

Keep coming back to the blog. A full photo album will be compiled over the next week with the highlights of the trip. Pupils will have a chance to share photos and see the video footage of the trip in the near future in school.

May 27, 2004

Avery sad coach of 49 people leaves Paris today, visiting the Scare Coeur in the north of the city for a final viez of the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe Notre Dame and all the other places that feel like they have become home to us. This is it. The last blog before hitting home ground.
We hope you've enjoyed the blog. We've enjoyed receiving all your messages. Comments will remain open for pupils on the trip to give their views. Until the next blog in Krakow and Auschwitz,

May 26, 2004

Finally, we have arrived at our last dinner together and we can hardly believe it. After spending Tuesday night on the Bateau Mouche on the River Seine (see the photos in the album), we spent Wednesday hurtling around roller coasters and water thrills at Parc Asterix. Here is a sample video of some of that action. You require Quicktime to view it. We will post more video with a smaller download time at the weekend.

In 15 minutes we dine for the last time and pupils will receive their surprise. So as not to blow it for future years, parents, friends and family will have to find out themselves later!

This morning we were up a little later and are on our way to Parc Astérix. Having spent a week of very hard work (yes, that’s right!) we’re going to spend the day on all the rides and roller coasters at this French theme park. As we speak, Miss Craigie does not want to try the fastest roller coaster in Europe, but we’ll convince her otherwise before the day’s out. See you soon.

We've just returned after a mammoth walking tour of Paris picking up all the sites and some shopping on the Champs Elysées. The boys visited the Peugot and Renault shops, with a quick shop at the Paris St Germain boutique. The girls left for Sephora, the biggest perfume shop in the world. Photos of our day in the centre of Paris are now in the album. You'll notice that last night we were forced into a change of plan. We visited the Eiffel Tower first, and tonight will take a well-earned cruise (time to rest those feet). Keep an eye on our webcam (www.mgsonline.org.uk/minisites/paris/details.htm).

Parc Asterix is tomorrow with a late time back. There may be very few updates between now and our return.

Just a quick message before we head off. We'll be in Paris seeing all the sites. If we have time, we'll post some news later on. Otherwise - a demain! The weather is GLORIOUS and lots of Factor 20 is being used. We promise some great photos soon from the Capital. Already you can see last night's unplanned trip to the Eiffel Tower - Bateaux Mouches tonight due to unforseen problems. Enjoy! They may take some time to load up as we haven't had time to reduce the images. Also, an attempt has been made to upload video. It may not work on all machines.

May 24, 2004

We've arrived safely in Paris and the pupils are getting themselves comfortable in their hotel rooms. Th drive was lovely, and we stopped in Rouen for lunch and for Mr McIntosh to meet some friends from his previous life as a NON-teacher. There are stcks of new photos from our stay at Molay. The staff at the Chateau commended the pupils on their excellent behaviour, inviting them back whenever they want. Musselburgh Grammar can be really proud of its pupils! (as for the staff...!)

Tonight we will eat in the Chiffonade restaurant and take a cruise on the river. The interactive trip itinerary is well worth a visit on the main web site of the trip (www.mgsonline.org.uk/paris.htm). Here you can see a livecam of the river and try to spot us as we sail. Let us know what you see.

The wind has droppd ans we are now enjoying full sunshine, warm days and activities outdoors. On Sunday we took part in several activities with the Chateau staff: swimming, walking and moutain biking amongst them. The rugby match didn't take place because the other school weren't up for it at all. We showed them how it's done, though, with our great rugby and football playing stars of Musselburgh!

The fancy dress last night went very well - Mr McIntosh opting for the Harry Potter look alike. There will be a winner of the fancy dress prize, announced on Wednesday night. Will it be the French flag of footballers, or the fantastic Scooby Doo? Watch this space.

MORE PHOTOS of the challenges set by the staff and the day in the Chateau available now. Open the photo album to browse them.

After spending so much time in class studying the chapter of the textbook called 'Voyage a Paris', we're finally actually doing it. We're leaving the Chateau this morning and we're quite sad to be leaving. More of an update on how we feel about arriving in the big city, la capitale de la France, tonight. Our first experience of Paris is a tour on the bateaux mouches, the open-top boats that go up and down the river Seine. There's a good webcam of them here, so take a peek at around 8pm and try to spot us!

May 23, 2004

Today is the day off for the teachers and pupils, although we will all be working hard in some way. Sunday will be; hopefully, be the day that we beat the other Grammar School that has arrived at our Chateau. A day of rugby, football, swimming and other sporting competitions will take place, and MGS will do our best to win the title of Molay Olympic Champions. Results later today, or tomorrow, when we get to Paris.